Grr, argh, and all that.

Bit of this, bit of that. Not much writing, as has been previously mentioned, except if you count my rather-more-sustained-than-usual correspondence with one A. V., who shall remain nameless until such time as she may agree to see her name splashed all over the internet. Not that thereâ€™s anything scandal-worthy here, but some folks object to have their names anywhere within reach of Googleâ€™s tentacles, and I can easily understand that.

Regardless, not much writing. My creative energies have been directed mostly towards a different kind of outlet: costuming. Yep.

I know, itâ€™s weird. And not really something I ever showed much of an interest in before. But it started with a forum: the Alien Legacy Boards, on which I stumbled while looking forâ€¦, well, Iâ€™m not sure what really. Something Aliens-related anyways.

The board is for fans and admirers of the Alien franchise, with a pronounced bias towards the second movie, and an added emphasis on prop building and collecting, and costume making. In short, itâ€™s a forum for people who like to dress up as Colonial Marines, and occasionally Xenomorphs.

At this point, if I had any readers, I imagine that a good few of them would be shaking their heads in dismay at the thought that grown-ups can engage in something that silly. If thatâ€™s the case for you, piss off. Go get some fantasy in your drab life, and come back when you have an ounce of tolerance in you. And yes, I know, glass houses and all thatâ€¦.

The truth is, yes, it is silly. But itâ€™s fun. And itâ€™s harmless. Feel free to shake your head, but keep your comments to yourself, unless you have no football shirts or caps, no movie posters, no sports equipment, and in fact no hobby of any kind. Whatever you do for relaxation, thereâ€™s someone in the world who considers it a ridiculous waste of time and money and cannot possibly understand its appeal.

And by the way, if your hobby consists of getting toasted every Saturday night in a bout of what you euphemistically call â€œsocialisingâ€, then that someone is me. Socialising is supposed to create social bonds, not fake them through the shared abuse of alcohol. Unless you can have an interesting conversation with someone, I donâ€™t see how youâ€™re going to create any durable bond. And I do mean â€˜conversationâ€™, as in with full, proper sentences, on a topic that doesnâ€™t involve cars, soccer, or girls/boys.

But hey. Thatâ€™s just my opinion as a snobbish, grumpy Frenchman, and also I digress, again.

So, back on costuming: after discovering the Alien Legacy boards, I quickly got drawn in by the crazies who haunt them, and started thinking about joining them for real. Letâ€™s face it, who, among the downtrodden masses of non-Brad Pitt, non-Schwarzenegger-shaped males, has never dreamed of looking at least moderately bad-ass in BDUs and combat armour, toting the infamous M-41 Pulse Rifle, and quoting lines of dialogue from the ultimate man-vs-aliens movie? Mmh?

Right. So I started saving, and got myself first the BDUs, then the patches to sew on, then some accessories, a sidearm, then eventually I went all in, and purchased both the armour and the rifle. I know. Thatâ€™s crazy. But hey, my money, my choice, right?

Anyway, Iâ€™m proud to say that even wearing the full equipment I donâ€™t look even remotely badass, just rather goofy; but I donâ€™t care that much. I like it, and it gave me an opportunity to meet a great many good people from all over the World when I went to the National Space Centre Sci-Fi Week-End in Leicester earlier this month.

But more on that soon, Iâ€™ll devote an entire entry just to the event â€“ Iâ€™m crazy like that. For now Iâ€™ll close this rather uninspired post with a juicy something to reward you for reading all the way down: a picture of goofy me on guard duty in front of the NSC. What a treat!